


Daira

by avani



Category: Jodhaa-Akbar (2008)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Mother-Son Relationship, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-13 19:31:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14119335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avani/pseuds/avani
Summary: Maham Anga has always loved Jalal.





	Daira

**Author's Note:**

> For AllegoriesinMediaRes, who prompted _Maham Anga, Circumbilivagination_

The nights in Kabul are long; throughout most of them Jalal weeps. The court physicians hem and haw of colic, but Maham Anga supposes the child has enough reason to mourn. The Emperor and Empress may still live in exile, at least according to the latest reports, but Jalal might as well be an orphan for all the attention they can spare him.

Tonight is no exception. Jalal howls, and here in his uncle’s house, no one pays him any heed. Even Maham Anga hesitates; having fed Jalal, her duty is discharged, and her own son is no less hungry. 

But the baby before her is no mere child, but the future of her empire. No mother’s heart should outweigh the needs of the throne, even if Adham still whimpers. Let him wait a little longer; Maham Anga walks the perimeter of the courtyard, Jalal cradled in her arms.

*

“Does it hurt, Elder Mother?” Jalal asks, peering anxiously at the bandages about her chest. 

Maham Anga soothes that it is nothing. At last he falls asleep, head resting in her lap; only then does she allow herself to recall the surprise and sharp pain of the arrowhead piercing her skin, the blind instinct that had led her to whirl Jalal around just in time-- 

She shudders, not from the memory,  but because of the awareness that today’s incident will only be the first of many. Jalal has grown too old, has come to the attention of too many. How many others will think how easy it would be to dispose of a boy, helpless and alone?

No. Not alone. As long as she lives, Maham Anga shall circle around Jalal, a force to keep him safe. They will not touch him while she draws breath, so she swears.  

*

“Seven times the bride and groom circled the holy flame,” the Empress reads aloud  from the court chronicler’s records, and Maham Anga sneers. Yet another unnecessary Rajput custom, when a marriage could be--should be--arranged sedately behind veils. If she had her way, her Jalal would not be subjected to any of this indignity.

Hamida lowers the paper, and not for the first time Maham Anga wonders if her thoughts are all too known to the Empress. They have always had an uneasy unity of mind, joined together in their love for their son, but now--

“Things will be different, now that Jalal is married,” says Hamida solemnly, and Maham Anga lowers her head.

The Empress' words change nothing. Jalal is _hers_ , purchased with blood and milk and tears, and the arrival of one presumptuous princess cannot change that--no matter how many revolutions round a fire Jodhaa Bai might make.

**Author's Note:**

> * Daira means "orbit, circling" in Urdu. That said, most of my Urdu is colloquial at best, so if any corrections are needed, please let me know.  
> * The historical Akbar did grow up with his uncle in Kabul while his parents were in exile. While most of _Jodhaa-Akbar_ seems to take place in a slightly alternate universe from our own, that much seems likely to be the same.  
>  * Akbar's official chronicler Abul Fazl did not come to the imperial court until 1575, but given the cameo from Birbal we have in the deleted scenes, I couldn't resist including more of the famous Nine Gems of Akbar's court.


End file.
